It is blog day.... again, nothing is going on worth blogging about in the Henna world.
I would assume in the thousands of years henna has been used there have been lulls like this. Nothing new, nothing worth blogging about.
I was discussing the lull in Henna with some other artists. I can not decided if henna has peeked in popularity or if it is so common now, skilled artists are just not as needed. The fear is, artists will lose much needed income for their families.
I understand this fear. We live in extremely scarey times financially.
But; I also understand with the drop off in popularity the cultural and historical significance will start to come back.
In this, SKILLED artists will outshine and be needed.
To me, it will be very interesting to see what happens as popularity wanes.
It is true, anyone can do henna. It is also true that to be a true professional, you must really dedicate yourself to all facets of the art. An artist who can draw but can not mix paste, or roll cones, or understand safe henna practices, is not a henna artist. They are someone who can draw with henna.
Will the drawers become bored when the money and willing skin slow down?
It will be very interesting to see what happens. How henna will evolve. How the sacred will helpfully come back. How even more people will offer me their hands wanting traditional patterns and artist's choice designs because THAT is what henna is.
One artist, one living canvas, and an ancient plant paste making hopefully happy memories. :)
